"An airport on land?" Halsey said, "This is indeed extremely important. For example, on Guadalcanal, if there is no airport, we will be extremely passive. But it will take a while. When we take Leyte Island

After it is taken down, there will be such an airport. However, battles on land are not like naval battles. Naval battles are always very straightforward. Even if it is a big battle, who wins and who loses will only take a day or two at most.

It can be decided,

Sometimes, a decisive battle may only take a few hours. For example, in Jutland, the real battle lasted only half a day. Land battles are always so long. Even if you have a huge advantage, the enemy can take advantage of it.

Various fortifications have been supported for a long time. Therefore, although General MacArthur hopes to quickly capture Leyte Island, no matter how quick it is, it cannot be solved in half a day. If it is not done well, it may not be completed in a week or two.

"

Ron knew that Halsey actually underestimated the difficulty of land combat. Historically, after completely defeating the Japanese navy, the Americans, who had full superiority in sea and air, still spent two months fighting until the end of the year.

Eventually he captured Leyte Island. But maybe he wouldn't have to wait that long to get an airfield.

…

Washington, General Arnold's office.

"General, General Ron has sent a report." A staff officer handed a report to General Arnold.

General Arnold took the report and opened the cover. A title like this appeared in front of him: "Analysis of the current situation of strategic bombing against Japan and countermeasures."

"Haha," Arnold laughed, "Ron's naming skills are still as bad as before."

After despising Ron's naming skills, Arnold began to read the report carefully.

"Considering some phenomena unique to Japan as an island, such as changeable upper air currents, more clouds at high altitudes, etc., these will directly lead to high-altitude bombing [

Therefore, it can be expected that daytime high-altitude bombing will be difficult to achieve similar effects to the strategic bombing of Germany...

Japanese fighter technology is relatively poor, and the density of ground anti-aircraft firepower is far inferior to that of the Germans. However, the Japanese army's determination to fight is far stronger than that of the Luftwaffe. Luftwaffe pilots will give priority to protecting themselves in combat, but the Japanese are different.

, they are more crazy when attacking, or more desperate. In terms of interception methods, due to problems with the performance of the aircraft, the Japanese prefer to use collision methods to intercept. Japanese fighter jets

High-altitude performance is very poor. Our current bombing is mainly high-altitude bombing, which greatly reduces the chance of the Japanese intercepting us through impact. However, once we lower our altitude, we are likely to be intercepted by them. And bombers

The power of the self-defense weapons on board is limited by the platform, and it is difficult to prevent the enemy's suicidal impact. This greatly increases the cost of relying solely on the bomber force to lower its flight altitude during the day in exchange for better accuracy."

"With the bomber force alone, the price of lowering the flight altitude during the day in exchange for better accuracy is greatly increased?" Arnold thought, "I know that this kid Ron will seize every opportunity to emphasize the importance of fighter jets. Well,

Let’s continue and see what else this little guy will say. He will probably follow this sentence and turn to the importance of fighter units, right?”

However, Ron did not immediately mention the fighter jets in the following text. Instead, he turned around and mentioned the night bombings:

"Since the Japanese army lacks night fighters, night bombing will become an attractive option. Due to the lack of supplies, Japan relies heavily on sea transportation, and transportation between the Japanese archipelago also relies heavily on sea transportation. Therefore, using the cover of night

, conducting offensive mine laying is the most effective means to attack Japan at this stage.

One of them. And because there are no obstacles on the sea, we can fly very low, low enough to avoid the Japanese radar. In this way, the Japanese night fighters, which are not many in the first place, pose an even smaller threat to us.

Yes. The 21st Bomb Wing dropped a total of 100 bombs during the night minelaying operation some time ago..."

"This guy can actually keep his composure and start talking about the mine-laying offensive? Well, let's see what he talks about later?" General Arnold thought.

"Our actions in the Philippines will completely cut off the maritime connection between the Japanese and the resource producing areas in the south, and apart from sea transportation, there is no other means to provide sufficient transportation of materials to support the war. Therefore, once our actions in the Philippines

Once the victory is over, the significance of our blockade of Japan's peripheral ports through mines will be greatly reduced. At that time,

Our offensive mine laying should also be able to completely paralyze traffic in the Seto Inland Sea of ​​Japan. At this time, we must consider a comprehensive strategic bombing of Japan. Considering the advantages of night bombing and the fact that most Japanese urban buildings are wooden structures

, the reality of poor fire setting ability, I think that using a large amount of burning for fire attack is the most effective way of combat.

In order to increase the load capacity, we must give up the idea of ​​​​flying at high altitudes. In this way, we may be attacked by Japanese night fighters and anti-aircraft guns after entering the interior, which will have certain risks. But I think, considering the insufficient number of Japanese night fighters,

We can bear this risk. By bombing like this, we can force the Japanese to leave their cities.

Evacuate the city. This is equivalent to disrupting their production. At this time, after completing the Battle of the Philippines, our navy should also have the strength to seize an island off the coast of Japan for us as an alternate airport for B-29 and

The forward airfield for escorting fighter jets. I personally think that looking for an island on the Ogasawara Islands is the most suitable location..."

"Haha, I finally showed my tail. I knew you couldn't help it." General Arnold couldn't help but smile, "Just put it this way, I'm afraid it won't be until next year that I can do this. Ron, you can really do it."

Wait until next year?”

"After the Japanese are evacuated, production will become hand-crafted workshops scattered across the countryside. At this time, continuing to attack them through heavy bombers will appear inefficient. Fighters and attack aircraft should become the main force during this period, throughout Japan.

Perform safari missions in the sky. The practice of this tactic should start now. Therefore, I suggest that once an airport is obtained in the Philippines, an aviation fleet consisting mainly of tactical aircraft should be established here immediately, and the Philippines should be used as a training ground.

On the one hand, it can train hunting skills, on the other hand, it can also speed up the process of the Philippine campaign..."

"As expected, I can't wait. Well, now is indeed the time to make preparations. Maybe we can first draw some fighter jets from the 13th Air Force to form this unit, and then transfer European fighter units to supplement it later." Arnold

Think about it this way.

…
Chapter completed!